Archive for July, 2007

Pope Benedict XVI said the debate over Creationism vs. Evolution raging in some countries — especially the United States and Germany was an “absurdity,” saying that evolution can coexist with faith.

“This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and being as such.”

This statement does not mean that the Pope, and through him Catholicism, endorses Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. In previous writings, both as Cardinal and as Pope, Benedict XVI has stated that Darwin’s theory cannot be proven and that science has narrowed humanity’s view of creation.

What does seem clear is that the Pope continues to maintain the stance that God and Evolution are not mutually exclusive. In previous writings he has made it clear that the science of evolution is valid, but has the in-built limitation that it cannot determine the cause, meaning or purpose for Creation and Life itself.

Like this:

New York State has sued Exxon Mobil Corp on Tuesday July 17, 2007 to force the cleanup of a decades-old, 17 million gallon oil spill in New York City.

Besides requiring Exxon to perform the cleanup operation, the lawsuit asks Exxon to restore Newton Creek and is seeking substantial financial penalties and damages for the injuries to financial resources.

The lawsuit pertains to a leak that was discovered in 1978 in Newtown Creek, the waterway that separates the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. According to the lawsuit the spill has formed an underground contamination of over 55-acres of the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn.

This company cannot ignore the harm its oil spill has caused to the environment and residents of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

This suit sends the message that even the largest corporations in the world cannot escape the consequences of their misdeeds

Like this:

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Katherine D. Savage dismissed the charges against and released Mahamu Kanneh, who was accused of repeated raping and otherwise sexually molesting a seven year old girl of the course of a year. The Liberian immigrant was not released due to lack of evidence but due to the fact that he supposedly didn’t speak enough English!

Judge Savage decided that, after three years of supposedly trying to get a translator for Mr. Kanneh’s native Vai tongue – a tribal language spoken by approximately 100,000 people worldwide – that Mr. Kanneh’s right to a speedy trial had been violated.

This is one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make in a long time

The Author wonders how it could be other a “most difficult decision” to release an accused child rapist back into society without first allowing a jury to determine his guilt or innocence. Judge Savage had to carefully weigh the facts that: Mahama Kanneh attended high school and community college in Maryland, spoke English to detective and court representatives throughout the proceedings, and had previously waved his right to a speedy trial so that his defense team could conduct its own analysis of DNA evidence. It must have been very hard for Judge Savage to twist the facts in such a way so as to be able to possibly release yet another pedophile back into society.

This must have been especially difficult for Judge Savage to accomplished since one of the primary purposes for The Right To A Speedy And Public Trial is to prevent undue and oppressive incarceration prior to trial. Mahamu Kanneh had only spent one night in jail and was released on a $10,000 bond with the restriction that he have no contact with minors.